Ohio State football lands Mississippi running back Quinshon Judkins as transfer
Joey KaufmanQuinshon Judkins announced Monday he will transfer to Ohio State, adding perhaps the best available transfer running back to the Buckeyes’ backfield.
Over two prolific seasons at Mississippi, he rushed for 2,725 yards and 31 touchdowns before putting his name in the transfer portal last week.
Judkins was twice named first-team All-Southeastern Conference, including as a freshman in 2022 when he led the league in rushing. Among SEC backs, only Herschel Walker, the former Heisman Trophy winner at Georgia, ran for more yards in his first year.
Rankings from 247Sports and On3, two of the major websites covering recruiting, have Judkins rated as the top transfer running back to enter the portal during the winter window.
The announcement by Jenkins came only a few minutes after archrival Michigan defeated Washington in the College Football Playoff final, capturing the program’s first outright national championship since 1948.
In addition to capturing the biggest prize, the Wolverines have overtaken Ohio State at the top of the Big Ten, winning three in a row in the rivalry en route to conference championships in each of those seasons.
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“I'm looking forward to being a part of a winning culture,” Judkins wrote in a graphic shared on his social media accounts, "and helping to do my part to beat the TUN (Michigan) and bring a Big 10 championship and national championship to Columbus.”
He had previously indicated he was in Columbus on Sunday for a visit to Ohio State.
The addition is a needed one for the Buckeyes, who have lost multiple scholarship running backs over the last month, attrition that included Evan Pryor and Chip Trayanum leaving as transfers and Miyan Williams declaring early for the NFL draft.
They have replaced two of them with freshmen James Peoples and Sam Williams-Dixon, who signed letters of intent last month, but before landing the commitment from Judkins, they were bound to be at least one below last season’s threshold when they maintained five scholarship running backs on the roster.
The status of TreVeyon Henderson, the Buckeyes’ leading rusher from last fall, remains up in the air.
A junior with one more year of eligibility left, he can return next season or enter the draft. He has another week to continue to mull his future. The deadline for underclassmen to file for early entry into the draft is Jan. 15.
The Buckeyes have picked up a handful of transfer commits in recent days, all of them to restock the offensive side of the ball after their lowest-scoring season in more than a decade.
Judkins followed former Kansas State quarterback Will Howard and former Alabama center Seth McLaughlin who committed late last week. Will Kacmarek, a tight end from Ohio, also announced his commitment on New Year's Eve.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch and can be reached at jkaufman@dispatch.com.